It turns out that as of August 1, there is no longer a fine for driving into oncoming traffic. Only license suspension. I somehow hadn’t been following the news on this. At the intersection of Volgogradsky Avenue and Lyublinskaya Street, the cops have created a completely insane traffic jam and are nailing everyone who tries to get around it. To get through there, you have to drive about four meters along the oncoming lane on a side road. That spot used to bring them in plenty of guilders, but now, in terms of profitability, it clearly leaves any oil and gas field far behind. Because of the tougher rules, bargaining now starts at 4,000 rubles. The most disgusting part is that while you sit there listening to the painfully familiar monologue, which inevitably ends with, "So what are we going to do with you, Anatolich?" some jerks drive past in that same oncoming lane and get waved through because they’re pressing official IDs against the windshield. I very much doubt that the introduction of these new penalties will reduce the number of violations. But I don’t doubt for a second that within a year all the traffic cops will be driving Porsche Cayennes and every kind of Brabus. And anyway, what’s the point of all this tightening if all you have to do is pay, and then you can drive drunk in the oncoming lane in a stolen car with a flashing beacon.